Recruitment of Black Elderly for Clinical Research Studies of Dementia: The CERAD Experience

Nine Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) sites were surveyed to identify barriers to recruiting black subjects. Major cited obstacles were expenses, transportation difficulties, and especially lack of rapport with clinic staff. Major factors in overcoming these barriers are a good referral network involving the black community, community education about Alzheimer's disease (AD), and professional staff who are particularly sensitive to the needs of the black population. CERAD efforts to increase community awareness of Alzheimer's disease and staff sensitivity to minority needs have nearly doubled the proportion of black subjects enrolled.